Michigan's Taylor Lewan is all about the stats, just not his own

ANN ARBOR -- When the offensive linemen are doing their jobs, it allows others to do theirs. Rack up yardage, score touchdowns, be the stars.

When the big uglies' names are finally called, it's typically for a penalty or blown assignment.

To that end, Michigan left tackle Taylor Lewan should be basking in his first career touchdown. Instead, he isn't just indifferent -- he's actually a little upset by it.

Taylor Lewan, bottom, is used to propping up Denard Robinson during this pregame routine, as well as in the running game. He got a moment of glory himself against UMass, falling on a Robinson fumble for a touchdown.Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

"I just kind of fell on it," Lewan said of his reaction to quarterback Denard Robinson's goal-line fumble against UMass. "There's nothing really exciting about that. I scored a touchdown, and that was cool, and I'm glad I got to do that for my team. But it would have been much nicer to have Denard score a touchdown, or one of our running backs.

"I mean, that was just me falling on the ball. Y'all are making it a way bigger deal than it needs to be. Yeah, I fell on the ball. It happened to be in the end zone, and that's all it was. What are you going to do?"

Lewan was one of eight players to score a touchdown in the 63-13 win Saturday against UMass. But he's far more concerned about improving the line's play, considering No. 11 Notre Dame awaits this week (7:30 p.m., NBC).

The Irish (3-0) feature one of the most imposing defensive front sevens that Michigan will face all season. It is led by first-team preseason All-America linebacker Manti Te'o.

Notre Dame didn't allow a touchdown at Michigan State last week and is yielding only 10.0 points per game, eighth in the country. It's 23rd against the run, allowing fewer than 100 yards per game.

That could spell trouble for Michigan, whose offensive line has struggled to work as a unit this year. The tailbacks combined for just 49 yards against Alabama and Air Force.

Michael Schofield, left, is part of a line that helped Denard Robinson and the Michigan offense rack up 63 points against UMass on Saturday.Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The backs came alive against UMass, though, racking up 180 yards and four touchdowns. The Minutemen are in their first season at the FBS level, and among the worst teams in the country, but Lewan said that can't discount their efforts.

"It was what we needed," Lewan said. "I think this offensive line needed to see we could do it. And now that we saw we can do it, we need to keep doing it even when we play against the Notre Dames of the world."

Lewan said for the line to be successful, it has to go beyond simply playing with sound technique -- it has to get a little nasty.

"Technique will get you to the spot you need to go to, but you have to be aggressive, you have to be physical, you got to play angry. A little nasty," he said. "I think our offensive line needs to do that a little more."

It hasn't so far?

"I don't think we did -- not at all," Lewan said. "But we've gotten better and better, and we understand the tradition we're holding on our shoulders

"You have to take pride in what you're doing. We don't get stats, usually, so we have to think the running back stats and the quarterback stats are our stats, and we have to take pride in what they do."

Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for MLive.com. He can be reached by email at kmeinke@mlive.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.